Man dupes 50 people at ATMs for a lavish lifestyle, arrested

The police have arrested a 28-year-old man in Shahdara for duping people at ATMs and fraudulently withdrawing their money. Twelve ATM cards have been recovered from his possession.

The accused, Sandeep, has duped more than 50 persons in the last three years. He spent all the money on a lavish lifestyle and touring various places in India and abroad, police said.

Recently, one of his victims had lodged a complaint in Farsh Bazar police station.

The complainant, Sanjay Jain, a resident of Shahdara, alleged that on September 4, he went to an ATM in Anaj Mandi in Shahdara. He inserted his ATM card inside the machine and entered the pin. However, a man standing in the corner told him that he will receive money from another machine, which was situated beside the first machine in the same premise.

As soon as the complainant moved, the man, Sandeep, allegedly took the money from the first machine. Jain realised later that extra amount had been debited from his account.

During investigation, CCTV footages were obtained and analysed. A common person was seen in the videos. A sketch of the suspect was made and shared with the members of ‘Prahari’- a Delhi Police initiative that includes security guards, vendors, shopkeepers etc. These members act like eyes and ears of the local beat constables and informers.

On September 14, a Prahari member alerted the police. The informer, Pradeep Kumar, is an ATM guard posted in Anaj Mandi in Shahdara. He contacted the station house officer of Farsh Bazar police station and locked the suspect inside the ATM premise.

Police reached the spot and Sandeep was caught.

“During the interrogation, Sandeep, a native of Punjab, disclosed that he used to work in housekeeping of reputed hotels in India and abroad. Seeing the life style of high profile persons visiting the hotels, he also wished to live that life. But due to shortage of money, his wishes could not be fulfilled. Hence he started to cheat the public to earn quick money,” said deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) Nupur Prasad.